The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) will be using the
Winter Storm Travel Guide to advise citizens on what can be expected as far as
winter travel conditions and transportation services given a certain amount of
snow. Working with the Department of Transportation (DOT), METRO and other rail
services, the National Weather Service (NWS), the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM) and many other agencies, COG has developed a penguin guide to categorize
winter storms in the metropolitan area and to generalize the area's response to
those storms.

The guide has six categories of storms ranging from a one penguin storm which
is a minor storm with less than four inches of snow and increases up to a five
penguin storm which is 18 to 24 inches of snow and brings the area to a
stand-still for a period of time. The final category is a penguin in an ice cube
which describes the area's response to an ice storm.

When the National Weather Service anticipates a major storm to impact the
Metropolitan Washington area, a COG conference call is held with NWS, DOTs and
key decision-makers from the city, surrounding counties, and various agencies
including OPM. This conference call includes a briefing by NWS on the forecasted
storm impact, a briefing by DOT on current conditions or readiness, and then
discussion of actions that will be taken such as government closings, etc.
During this conference call, COG and its members will determine what category of
storm looks to impact the majority of the metropolitan area. This information
will then be released by COG so that people can be better informed on what to
expect as far as transportation services and blowing of roads for travel through
the region.

Information about the Penguin categories and the Travel Guide is available
through COG at 202-962-3236 or at their web site: www.mwcog.org/penguin_guide.html
The Penguin graphic is available through COG for use in public broadcasts of
this information by the media.